Method of measuring and registering electric energy



(No Model.)

S. C. C. CURRIE. METHOD 0E MEASURINC AND REGISTERING ELECTRIC ENERGY.

110.4273749. 4 Patentedmay 13,1890.

I I 1 I l I I www: gjm/Wm: afi Lm mawvM/M UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

STANLEY CHARLES CUTHBERT CURRIE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED ELECTRIC IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OF

GLOUCESTER CITY, NEY JERSEY.

METHOD OF MEASURING AND REGISTERING ELECTRIC ENERGY,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,749, dated May 13, 1890,.

Application filed November 30, 1889. Serial No. 332,159. (No model.)

To LLZZ whom, Z may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY CHARLES CUTHBEET CUEEIE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, but now residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Measuring and Registering Electric Energy, of which the following' is a specification.

My invention relates to a method of ascertaining the quantity or strength of an elecl tric current and accurately measuring and registering electric energy passing through a circuit in a given time.

My invention consists, iirst, oi' a method of accurately determining the quantity or strength of an electric current traversing a circuit in a given time by causing said current to vary by its magnetic or other action the quantity of a uid caused to pass into a vessel.

My invention consists, secondly, of the method of ascertaining the quantity and strength of electricity traversing a circuit in a given time by opposing a varying hydrostatic resistance to the armature of an electromagnet, and causing said magnet by its attraction to vary hydrostatic pressure upon an orifice through which a iluid passes and registering the quant-ity of fluid that has passed thro ugh said orifice and my invention consists, thirdly, in the method of ascertaining the quantity and strength of electricity traversing a circuit in a given time, causing the eiteetive pull exerted by an electro-magnet to be directly proportional to the current passing through the magnet by opposing a varying hydrostatic resistance to the armature thereof.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown apparatus susceptible of being used for carrying my method into effect, and in Which*- Figure l is a longitudinal central section of a meter especially adapted for carrying out my method. Fig. 2` is a top or plan vieW thereof. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a modified form of the apparatus with the lower portions of the meter removed; and Fig. 4L is a view, partly 5o in section and partly in elevation, of a portion of the meter with the electro-inag11etie device so arranged that the movement of the plunger 0E said device is dependent not only upon the current of the main circuit alone, but also upon the electro1notive force of the circuit, whereby may be measured With accuracy the amount of electric energy traversing a circuit in a given time.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a tank provided with tivo binding-posts a and a. Upon the surface of a liquid or i'luid contained in the tank A floats a buoy B. The pan or buoy B sustains v at one end thereof a helical coil ot' Wire or a magnet l), a bifurcated post or standard h', and two mercury-cups b2 and b5, and at the opposite end a support II, carrying a segmental scale 7L. The oscillating lever C, provided With a pointer or index-finger c, is connected with the bifurcated extremity ot the post or standard b by means of' a pivot ht. This lever C is provided with an adjustable countenweight c. The core D of the magnet b, Figs. l, 2, and 3, made of soft iron, is pivotally connected With the oscillating lever C by means of the link d and extends into the space included within the helical coil of Wire ZJ. A iloat E is pivoted to a link e, which is similarly connected with oscillating lever C and extends into the liquid contained in the tank A. An invertedUshaped capillary tubeF is pivotally secured to the oscillating lever C, and one of the depending extremities f thereof is submerged a short `distance in the liquid contained in the tank A, and the other depending extremity f of this tube extending outside ofthe tank A into a vessel G, having a graduated scale g formed on the circumferential surface thereof.

The pan or buoy B is allowed a freedom of vertical movement, but is retained in proper relative position in the tank A by means of Wires immersed in mercury-cups b2 and b3 in any preferred manner.

l is a Wire or other conductor connected with one of the binding-posts a and leading from a source of electric energy. 2 is a Wire or conductor connected with said .binding-- post a and dipping into the mercury-cup b2. 3 is a wire or other conductor leading from said mercury-cup b2 to the helical coil of wire b.

4 is a wire or other conductor leading from the helical coil of wire l) to the mercurycup b3.

5 is a conductor dipping into the mercurycup ,b3 and leading to thc other binding-post a', and 6 is a conductor connected with the binding-post c and completing t-he generatorcircuit.

The coil of wire l) may be wound in the form of a helix around the hollow core or cylinder of diamagnetic substance or brass t', as shown in Fig. l, or around a hollow core or cylinder of soft iron lined with a diamagnetic substance or brass, as shown in Fig.

My method maybe carried out by means of said meter in the following` manner: .The tank A and the tube F are filled with a liquidsuch as acidulated water-and the oscillating lever C so adjusted by means of the counter-v weight c as that the endfof the tube F will extend a short distance-say one-eighth of an inch, more or less-beneath the surface of the liquid in the tank A, in which position the acidulated water will not be siphoned from the tank A into the vessel G. The meter having been included in circuit by means of the wiresor conductors l and G, the vessel G is placed in position alongside or adjacent to the tank A, and with the tube F, previously lilled with a i'luid or liquid by suction or otherwise, placed in position with the end f thereof extending into the vessel G. Preference is given to a tube with a very line bore, because the fluid or liquid will remain in the tube even when raised entirely above the su rface thereof, and, moreover, when one end of the tube is immersed a short distance say a quart-er of an inch, more or less-into the liquid or fluid the same will not ilow at the opposite end-that is, of course, assuming that the two depending portions of the tube are .of equal length. This is due to the fact that the pressure or head is not sufficient to overcome the capillary attraction, and hence for the first readings from the zero-point commences from a point slightly below the surface of the liquid. This isof considerable importance, for the reason that the tube need never be raised entirely out of the liquid or fluid, and consequently never emptied. It will thus be seen that according to the amount of current passing through the helix l) will the plunger D, and consequently the tube F, be proportionally lowered, and thereby the amount Vof the iiuid which will flow in a given time from the tank A through the tube F into the vessel G will be dependent upon the current through said coil b. At the same time the rate or strength of the current flowing at any moment may be observed by the pointer c on the dial h. d

The attraction on au iron core by a solenoid will not alone cause the various depths of immersion of the tube F, so as to cause the flow of the liquid through said tube F, consequent upon the variations in the head,to give absolute proportions, and hence in order to obtain the desired absolute proportional results a displacement-lloat E is suspended from the movable lever C at any preferred point. The shape of said float is such that the resistance exerted against the downward nmovement of the lever by its displacement of the liquid is so proportioned at the various depths that the immersion of the tube F, and conseq uently the flow of the liquid therethrough, is exactly proportional to the amount of current passing through the coil in a given time. This float E may be caused to assume, among other forms, that of a cylinder, as in Fig. 3, or that of a cone or pyramid, as in Fig. l, or of an inverted cone or pyramid, the former offering a constant resistanceand the latter an increasing resistance or a decreasing resistance, as may be desired. The form of said floats will of course be dependent upon the nature of the electro-1nagnetic devices employed. For example, as in the case of a plain solenoid, with the arrangement of the parts as shown in Figs. l and 2, the upper part of the clisplace1nent-iioat will be considerably larger than the lower end, while, on the other hand, if a repelling action is required-such as illustrated in Fig. 3-the force exerted upon the lever-arm C at varying distances is in a decreasing ratio in contradistinction to an increasing one, as in the case of a plain solenoid, and consequently a iloat will be made use of in this instance in the form of a cone or pyramid, but inverted, as compared with that employed yin conjunction with a plain solenoid. Again, when a device is used vin which the forces are in direct proportion-such as in an ammeter or voltmeter-a float 'in the form of a plain cylinder will be employed for insuring the best practical results.

During the operation of the meter the pan or buoy B will sink farther into the tank A 5 but the contact from the circuit through the coilrB is maintained by means of the wires or conductors dipping into the mercury-cups b2 and b3. It will be seen by this arrangement that if by accident or thoughtlessness the Water should sink below a certain level the circuit will be automatically broken and the lamps in circuit thereby extinguished.

Fig. 3 represents an arrangement in which the coil b surrounds a hollow soft-iron cylin der xed to the coil, together with a lining of brass, and within which the soft-iron core D is free to move. In this instance the current passing through the coil will cause said core to be repelled consequent upon the mutual action between itself and the fixed soft-iron hollow cylinder or tube t'. The above are eX- amples of the many other magnetic Ior electrical appliances which may be available for actuating said oscillating lever C.

From the position of the index c with ref IOO IIC)

erence to the scale h, Figs. l and 2, and from the position of the float E with reference to the surface of the liquid, Fig. 3, the passage of the current through the meter at any moment of time may be ascertained, and by 4measuring the quantity of Water which has passed by drops from the tank A into the vessel G in a given length of time the quantity of electricity which has traversed the meter in that time may be accurately ascertained. Moreover, instead of measuring the quantity of water in the vessel G, the scale g may be so graduated that the height of the water as indicated thereby will represent the number of units of electricity that have passed through the meter in a""given time.

Fig. et represents, instead of a solid soft-iron core D, a coil of wire capable of actuating as a plunger and sliding with the larger coil b. If the smaller coil be composed of iine wire and of suiiiciently high resistance, the combined action of the two coils upon one another will cause the device to register the amount of electric energy passing in a given time. This arrangement is also applicable to alternating currents as Well as to direct currents. M is the armature of the dynamo, and

n and n the brushes thereof. O and O are conductors in contact with said brushes, respectively, and form the generator-circuit. P q and are the lamps included in said circuit.

q are conductors connected with said brushes n and n', and constitute a shunt to the lampcircuit.

Having thus described the nature and ob- 3 5 jects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is"

l. The method of ascertaining the quantity and strength of electricity traversing a circuit in a given time, which consists in oppos- 4o ing a Varying hydrostatic resistance to the armature of an electro-magnet and causing said magnet by its attraction to vary hydrostatic pressure upon an orifice through which a fluid passes and registering the quantity of 45 fluid that has passed through said orifice, substantially as described.

2. In the method of ascertaining the quanh tity and strength of electricity traversing a circuit in a given time, causing the effective 5o pull exerted by an electro-magnet to be directly proportional to the current passing through the magnet by opposing a varying hydrostatic resistance to the armature thereof, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

S"ANLEY CHARLES CUTHBER'l CURRIE. \\f"`itnesses:

Gno. W. Run-D, THOMAS M. SMITH. 

